Show itt ir A N W V rew 1 A Y 7 4 V 11 4 Q A I 1 LI by ELMO SCOTT WATSON Is many a paradox in american history but none Is more curious than th alg ho in the rears of 1801 1861 to ISM when hen the north was arrayed hg against dinst the south a southerner was the commander comina ina lider in chief of the northern forces F for or abraham lincoln was anns a a native ol of a southern state kentucky more than an that his wife was a southerner alid od that fact undoubtedly not only profoundly influenced his careen career but it shaped american history as well ivell there is un an it if in american history too and one of the most interesting la Is this if abraham lincoln had not married mary todd of lexington ky it Is possible that he would never neer have been resident president of the united states and thereby be called upon to lead the armed strength of the notion nation against his own people when the republican party in was considering possible candidates for the presidential nomI nomination nadon their heir choice upon lincoln depended partly upon the fact that alint lie was a conservative onse nathe in regard to the donil mant question of slavery sl aery this con sin brought to him the powerful support of tile the border states delegates who believed that lie possessed a sympathetic understanding of their problem and could deal with it better than any other candidate before tile the con 1 lie ile had tills sympathetic understanding because tits his marriage to mary todd gave him an opportunity to see both sides lea of the question it was in lexington sri in the heart of the largest slaveholding slave holding section of kentucky that lincoln saw at close range the more favorable patriarchal elements of the institution ills father in law owned claves aes cared for them well and mude made a resolution which lie he always kept never to sell a slave and thus risk bringing suffering to a human being who had a claim through faithful falth fut service en tee to tits his affection in the home homa of the todds dodds and of their friends lie he saw naw negro slaves well fed well housed slavery elavery at its best but there in the chivalrous and romantic blue grass region lincoln also baw slavery at its worst some of the masters there abused their slaves only a short distance from where mary todd was born stood a notorious slave lave prison and in cheapside the market square of lexington scarcely a day passed without seeing the public sale ale of black men and women more than that in the town of lexington there was i a miniature reproduction of the tempest which was nas rocking the nation the slavery dispute it was on the borderland boi derland and in it were pro slavery and antislavery anti slavery factions both strong the leader of the most radical pro men was robert wickliffe father of two of mary todds girlhood churns and the husband urband li of her fathers cousin leaders among the antislavery anti slavery men were robert J breckenridge and cassius if clay both personal and political friends of his father in law so when lincoln made tits his famous house divided against itself speech he could have pointed to the homes of dozens of families in or near lexington ky as concrete examples of ills symbol it Is such facts as these that william 11 townsend nd a citizen of lexington has brought out in an important study of lincoln the book lincoln and ills alires home town published recently by the bobbs sterrill company in the preface mr townsend says the name of abraham lincoln Is forever associated with slavery in the united baates biographers have traced the gradual development of Lincol ns views lews on the lie subject from his first public utterance in the illinois legislature down to the Emauel pation proclamation twenty five alve years later 4 r 41 1 1 1 1 mary todd lincoln from a photograph taken during the early part of lincoln Lintol ns administration 2 lincoln in 1848 1849 from an old daguerreotype the earliest known portrait of lincoln 3 mary ann todd A portrait made about the time of in her marriage to lincoln tile hie sources ho homeier weier from which his convictions on in the gret great issue largely sprung have not been hitherto re pealed it Is the purpose of tills book to show Lincol ns personal contacts with th slavery which gave him a firsthand knowledge of the peculiar institution ution that ile he cou could id have haie acquired in no other aay way lincoln and mary todd were vere mar ried in 1842 and soon afterwards aftem ards alln coin was vas elected to congress ton gress his first appearance appe alance upon the national nation jl stage a position which brought him lot into 0 more direct contact with the alli all I lm M pontaut question was so soon goon to be shaking the nation to its dept depths lis of the importance to Lincol ns political future of tits his marriage matlage man lage mr townsend writes so it happened thit that the ailt little littie alfe lie who went to live with lin coin at the tha modest biebe globe tavern in washington through her girlhood ex per lences in lexington was peculiarly fitted to in the great task which would malic male the nun man she married lm lin mortal she had been taught every phase of the great question which finally came to he be nearest ills his heart by the very man whom her husband regarded with the most admiration henry clay it may have been that gentle ann rutledge or portly complacent mary owens or 3 youthful lighthearted light tight hearted sarah rickard aur kard would have endowed the tall sycamore of the sangamon with a richer measure of marital bliss but never did a young wife bring to a husband interested in statecraft and anxious for or per ferment such wealth of first liand information on a grave moral and political subject such fruits of intimate association with great public men of her day as did mary todd to abraham lincoln one of these thebe great public men was john C breckenridge a childhood friend of 0 mary war todd lincoln in lexington litter later a united states senator vice president when buchanan was president and the candidate of the pro pio slavery democrats in the fateful campaign of 1860 one of the most dramatic incidents in mr vow Town townsends sends book Is the tory tor of how it fell to the lot of this friend of mary todd s girlhood to declare the election of her husband to tile the presidency ile he tells the story us as follows on february 13 the two houses of congress met m t in joint ses slon to count the electoral votes for president of the united states par for days rumors had flown thick and fast that vice president breckenridge would refuse to an bounce the election of lincoln and thus give tile the signal for the seizure of washington by the overwhelm ing number of southern sympathize era within its gates general acott cott had directed that no pel person son should be admired to the capitol building except senators Sina tors representatives government employees tind and those who had tickets ignec by the speaker breaker of the house or the presiding officer of the senate armed guards guaras were ere stationed at elezy entrance to enforce this order shortly after noon the senators filed loto into the house chamber and took goolt their seats in a semicircle arranged for them in front of the speakers desk the presiding officer was wag conducted to his chair and tellers took their places at the clerks table vice president breck bieck then arose and in a calm firm voice announced that the two houses were assembled to count the electoral votes tor for president and vice president of the united states it Is roy my duty lie he said to open the certificates of election in the for presence s nee of the houses and I 1 now preceded proceed to the performance of that N duty illy 11 no one knew the gravity ot of the occasion on better than the chairman none re realized lazed more than he that three fully thre fourths of those who ft ho out at beneath the vaulted dome were armed to the teeth and that the slightest spark might oft a shocking conflagration but those who nho expected john C breckenridge to stultify his high office by a conspiracy to over overthrow w the government did not know the man firmly believing the triumph of the re he publican party to be a menace to the south lie he would shortly return hla his commission as senator to his constituents in kentucky forsaking fame and fortune under tinder the stars and bars but today ile he was presiding officer of the federal senate and jupiter never ruled a council connell of olympus with ft ath a firmer hand A southern member arose but the chairman anticipated him except questions of order no mot motion loni can be entertained lie he declared the senator stated that he be wished to raise a point of order Is the count of the electoral vote to proceed under menace he shouted shall hit members be required to perform a constitutional duty before the Jani zaries of general scott are withdraw front from the hall the point of order I 1 is s not sus talked ruled leally ns as lie he directed the count to proceed slowly one after another the long sealed envelopes containing the votes of the various states were opened maine for lincoln was followed by a applause south carolina for breckenridge was lost loal la in an outburst of hand c lapping clapping quickly and sternly suppressed by the presiding officer then in a breathless silence and with profound attention on the part of all present john C breckenridge arose from his seat i standing erect the most digal dignified and imposing person in that presence all Abraham ra it am lincoln he announced with a distinctness that carried his hi mellow voice to the most distant corner of the gallery having received a majority of the whole n umber number of electoral votes Is duty duly elected president of tile the united states for the four years beginning on the fourth of march 1861 hew the civil war touched person ally tills this southern family the LIn colas who occupied the northern white house during those ali ose four eventful years Is shown in another incident told by air townsend mary todd had a lial half sister named emille and mie married hen ben hardin helm a lex inston boy who was graduated from wert point shortly before the opening of the civil war and anal cast tits his fortunes with the confederacy the aftermath Is told in ili these words worda of judge david davis da vis 1 I never saw mr air lincoln more moved than when lie he heard of the death of ills young brother in law ben alardin helm only thirty two years yeara old at chickamauga I 1 called to see him about four on the of september I 1 found him biro in the great est grief davis sald said lie 11 1 I feel as david of old did when lie he was told of the deeth death of absalom I 1 saw how grief stricken he was so I 1 closed the th door and left him alone 0 by Witti orn N bisp union |